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| Titel |
Forcing factors of cloud-to-ground lightning over Iberia: regional-scale assessments |
| VerfasserIn |
J. A. Santos, M. A. Reis, F. Pablo, L. Rivas-Soriano, S. M. Leite |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1561-8633
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ; 13, no. 7 ; Nr. 13, no. 7 (2013-07-05), S.1745-1758 |
| Datensatznummer |
250018551
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/nhess-13-1745-2013.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Cloud-to-ground lightning in a sector covering the Iberian Peninsula, the
Balearic Islands and nearby seas (36–44° N,
10° W–5° E) is analysed in the period from
2003 to 2009 (7 yr). Two Iberian lightning detection networks, composed
of 18 sensors over Portugal and Spain, are combined for the first time in
the present study. The selected characteristics are cloud-to-ground flashes
(CGFs), first stroke peak current, polarity and multiplicity (number of
strokes in a given flash). This study examines the temporal (on hourly,
monthly and seasonal timescales) and spatial variability of CGFs. The
influence of five forcing factors on lightning (elevation, lifted index,
convective available potential energy and daily minimum and maximum
near-surface air temperatures) over the Iberian sector is also assessed. For
regional-scale assessments, six subsectors with different climatic
conditions were analysed separately. Despite important regional differences,
the strongest lightning activity occurs from late spring to early autumn,
and mostly in the afternoon. Furthermore, CGFs are mainly located over
high-elevation areas in late spring to summer, while they tend to occur over
the sea in autumn. The results suggest that (1) orographically forced
thunderstorms over mountainous areas, mostly from May to September, (2) tropospheric
buoyancy forcing over western-central and northern regions in
summer and over the Mediterranean regions in autumn, and (3) near-surface
thermal contrasts from October to February largely control the location of
lightning in Iberia. There is no evidence of different forcings by polarity.
A clear correspondence between summertime precipitation patterns and CGFs is
also found. |
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